---
id: CVE-2026-116638
title: >-
  The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10 and 11 may allow an
  attacker to bypass firmware security controls, including
  administrator-configured UEFI/BIOS passwords
summary: >-
  The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10 and 11 may allow an
  attacker to bypass firmware security controls, including
  administrator-configured UEFI/BIOS passwords. An attacker with physical or
  administrative access to a dev…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N'
cvssSource: adp
ssvc:
  exploitation: poc
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-10-30T16:30:06.137282Z'
exploitAvailable: true
published: '2026-10-26'
updated: '2026-10-30'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-30T17:15:33.765Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-116638'
references:
  - url: 'https://kb.cert.org/vuls/id/226679'
  - url: 'https://beafn28.es/articulos/winre-uefi-bypass'
tags:
  - cve.org
  - exploit-available
epss: 0.00418
epssPercentile: 0.36293
ingestedAt: '2026-10-26T19:38:01.343Z'
---

## Overview

The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10 and 11 may allow an attacker to bypass firmware security controls, including administrator-configured UEFI/BIOS passwords. An attacker with physical or administrative access to a device may be able to leverage WinRE-related boot mechanisms to circumvent firmware protections and gain unauthorized access to system resources.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.